[mythtv-users] New MythTV Box - Understanding Hardware Needs

[Frank Baylee]

Hello All,

I am currently gathering parts for a new MythTV box. While cost is of some
conern, I am more concerned with putting together a box that is robust enough
to do what I wish to do.

I am hoping to have 2-4 tuner cards. Currently on hand are a Wintv PVR-350,
and a PVR-250. May add up to 2 more PVR-250's.

I am also planning on using this same box for recording CCTV cameras using
ZoneMinder - you can see my previous post/thread here:

http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/91123?search_string=lower%20frame%20rate

While I haven't decided on an exact capture card for the CCTV cams, it will
probably be something similar to the LMLBT4 (4/8 port brooktree based card)
from Linux Media Labs:

http://www.linuxmedialabs.com/product_details.php?prodid=310&PHPSESSID=70125e8b16b34cc22c0ca504c3fac500

In addition, I will probably be ripping my Music and DVD collection to store
on the Myth Box.

So, given the above, this machine will be capturing snapshots 24/7 from the
CCTV cams, recording from up to 4 tuner cards, playing back recordings, and
possibly streaming some of the CCTV images over the net. What should I look
for, hardware wise, to make sure it can handle this load? I am concerned
mostly about transferring all of this data from/to the hard drives, although
I'm sure other parts of the system will need to be beefed up as well.

for CPU/Mobo I was thinking of something along the lines of a 3+ GHZ P4
LGA775. I saw in another thread that someone mentioned they would have a
dual-CPU system. Will the usage I mentioned above be CPU intensive? Is the
second CPU really necessary?

Memory - hmm. No idea here, except fast, and 512Meg-1gig?

Storage wise I had planned on starting with a couple of SATA drive in the
250G-400G range, expanding as necessary (my case can hold 8 hot-swap drives).
Will they have sufficient bandwidth for what I am considering? Will I need
something like RAID-0 to increase the bandwith?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.


		
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